A D-Day Disappointment

Rating: Null/10 (28 January 2000)

I was somewhat disapointed after seeing this war movie, but the reason behind that is probably because I saw Saving private Ryan before watching this. Saving Private Ryan leaves quite am impression on you, and other D-Day movies, including this one, have a hard time living up to Saving Private Ryan.
A main reason that this movie is so weak is because of it's unrealistic portrayal of D-Day. The film tries to show D-Day as a group of brave American and British men, at peace with God, and ready to fight and die for their country, no matter what the cost, these men were ready to go into battle. This is made obviously clear as John Wayne runs out of his invasion boat courageously at the German bunkers onto the beaches of Normandy, his men following bravely behind him, not once hesitating to find a large obstacle to hide behind. When in fact, the young men who fought at Normandy were scared beyond reality. The invasion boats were covered in puke because the men were so frightened that they were throwing up. Men lost their values, beliefs, and standards for human life in D-Day and the rest of the war. This film tries to portray it as exciting, to make everyone get up, join the Army, and go kill the Nazi's, or whatever enemy America may be fighting now.
Which brings up another point that this film is purely American propaganda, trying to support the Army. The reason that this film is so weak and unreal, is most likely due to the fact of the cencorship of the 60's time period. They weren't allowed to show the true brutality of war, and the fact is, they probably couldn't have captured it then anyway.
While I did enjoy the film because it is about D-Day and is a good movie, especially for it's time, it makes war look like fun, which simply isn't true. However, I reccommend you see this movie anyway, because it is still quite interesting.